Contenu du sommaire : Les classes d'objets, sous la direction de Denis Le Pesant et Michel Mathieu-Colas

The authors address the general question of object classes. They present the theoretical bases , stressing the role of "appropriate predicates" , and describe the method to construct classes, including predicate classes. This approach throws new light polysemy. Several applications of object classes to linguistic analysis and processing are suggested and the article ends on associated semantic considerations.

This paper aims at clarifying some implications connected with the work about object classes and relevant for conceptual analysis. The first part contains some remarks about the interactions between formal syntactic constraints and conceptual restrictions in connection with words distribution. The second part tries to draw some relevant distinctions within the realm of conceptual restrictions. On the basis of explicit criteria, a distinction will be made between basic conceptual structures holding as consistency criteria, generally shared cognitive models and linguistic-specific lexical solidarities .

The theoretic framework of an electronic dictionary of German is presented. Words are analysed in terms of their constructions, that is into "sentential schemas" which they slot into. These constructions are the point of entry into the lexicon. Predicates must be described to characterize the arguments, producing semantic classes and "hyperclasses". The analysis can be continued towards terminology and languages for special purposes by indicating subject fields. The dictionary is designed for various applications such as tagging and parsing, information retrieval from document data bases, machine translation.

The aim of the paper is to propose a classification of complex event nouns based on event structure. The claim is made that the event structure of verbs can be identified on the basis of the compatibility of verbs with temporal adverbiale. In addition to the traditionally used in — and for — adverbiale one has to take into consideration punctual adverbiale (e.g. à deux heures "at two o'clock"), durative adverbiale which denote the duration of a consequent state (e.g. pour une durée de deux heures "for two hours") and continuative adverbiale (e.g. de deux ans "by two years"). This classification yields at least nine event types. Since the event structure of verbs is inherited by complex event nouns , it is concluded that in French there must be at least nine different types of such nouns.

This article concerns problems linked with the construction of so-called "classes of predicates". We make propositions for a lexical, syntactic and semantic characterization of predicates (verbs, predicative nouns, adjectives) used for interpreting and reporting people speech acts .

The principle of object classes is illustrated by roads, paths, etc. These are divided up into several files: list of arguments (those units which may be used to designate roads, paths, etc.); description of appropriate predicates (verbs, adjectives and predicate nouns); record of other cooccurrents; list of frozen expressions. Identifying all the elements which make up a class is essential for language processing.

This article deals with theoretical options for the study of determiners , then shows that object classes are relevant for analysing the distributional constraints on determiners. The class of nouns expressing diseases is examined as an example.

Dictionaries of synonyms used in word processors can be shown to be inadequate. To remedy this, the analysis of synonymy should be based on the concept of usage and to this end a description grid is proposed; this grid is made up of a dozen parameters, the main ones being those where the argument domains are defined (syntactic features and object classes); in cases of polysemy, each usage is associated to the synonyms which are peculiar to it. This description does not simply make it possible to improve the synonym function of word processors, it also opens the way for automatic processing of synonymy.

Some lexical relations (such as hyperonymy, synonymy, meronymy, polysemy and predicate/argument relation) can be defined by using, among other criteria, discursive relations. Different types of anaphora are taken into account.